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Palm Beach wants more information on Sun and Surf explosion

An explosion left a 10-foot by 10-foot crater in the parking lot of the Sun and Surf Condominium at 130 Sunrise Ave. on Oct. 8, 2015. Members of the Underground Utilities Task Force directed Town Manager Tom Bradford and Deputy Fire Chief Darrel Donatto Monday to get more information on the incident, since some people are not satisified with Florida Power & Light’s answer.

Posted: 8:00 a.m. Thursday, January 26, 2017

Town officials and residents are demanding more answers regarding an underground explosion more than a year ago at the Sun and Surf.

Palm Beach Fire-Rescue said at the time that the explosion was related to an underground electrical vault.

Florida Power & Light investigated the cause and sent a letter in January 2016 to Tim Pompos, then town fire marshal. The investigation suggested that a cable failed between two manholes, according to the letter.

“We are unable to provide an accurate determination regarding the failure because the cable cannot be retrieved from the conduit because the damaged cable wedged itself in the conduit,” T.J. Winder, FPL’s West Palm Beach area distribution manager, said in the letter.

Donatto was at the meeting to give a report on the frequency of overhead utility emergencies versus underground utility incidents over the past 10 years. He said the town has had very few incidents related to underground utilities, but used the Sun and Surf explosion as an example.

“We had one instance in the town where an underground utility line arched or sparked. And we believe that it ignited some gases that were trapped … and caused a small underground explosion,” Donatto said of the Sun and Surf incident. “The utility company hasn’t come out with a definitive on that.”

FPL Spokesman Bill Orlove said Wednesday that the company’s original letter speaks for itself. He said crews couldn’t determine a “root cause” but that the “abnormal level of naturally occurring gases” in the manhole likely contributed to the incident.

“This is a very rare occurrence in our company’s experience, considering we have more than 25,000 miles of underground power lines,” Orlove said of the amount of natural gases.

Donatto said all kinds of naturally occurring gases exist underground, methane being one of the more combustible ones. He said “it’s not unheard of” for the gases to get trapped in underground spaces, which is why ventilation is important.

Residents frustrated

Warren Belmar, president of the Sun and Surf 130 Association, expressed frustration Monday with FPL’s lack of answers.

“If they can’t identify what causes it how do we protect the rest of the town from explosions on the various vaults that are strewn throughout the town?” he asked.

Task force member Susan Gary pressed the town to get more information.

“I think it’s important for our residents to feel safe and to know what happened,” she said. “It’s a safety issue for our residents, particularly as we move forward with undergrounding and have more of these underground transformers.”

Donatto reiterated that it was wiring, not a transformer, that caused the explosion. He added that there was “nothing routine” about the Sun and Surf explosion, and that those type of incidents are uncommon in town.

Orlove said FPL crews routinely make repairs and inspections throughout the year to ensure the company is providing safe and reliable service.

More info on the way?

Bradford said he will contact FPL to request more information on the cause of the explosion. He said if the reply is not “satisfactory,” the town can file a complaint with the Florida Public Service Commission.

But, Bradford told the board that FPL might not be able to provide what the board is looking for.

“Is it possible that FPL can’t distinguish what caused it?” he asked Donatto.

Donatto said “absolutely.”

“I’ve personally investigated a lot of fires and not been able to come up with a cause,” he said. “Reconstructing a fire event is very challenging. Sometimes the revealing cause has been destroyed in the fire. Many times, more than half of the time, we’re unable to determine a cause.”

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